Hunan cuisine, also known as Hunan cuisine, is one of the eight major cuisines with a long history in China, which was formed as early as the Han Dynasty. Xiangjiang River Basin, Dongting Lake Area and Xiangxi Mountain Area are the three major local flavors.

Hunan cuisine is well-made, widely used, diverse in taste and variety; The color is bright, thick and practical; Pay attention to spicy, fresh and tender taste; The making method is called stewing, stewing, waxing, steaming and frying. The theme of Hunan cuisine is cooking. In fact, many people in Hunan are also afraid of eating spicy food and want to eat that kind of spicy food, which leads to the result of eating too much rice. So the main function of Hunan cuisine is cooking, just like crooked dishes.

The representative dishes of official Hunan cuisine are Anzu Hunan cuisine, such as Anzu tofu and Anzu shark's fin. The representative dishes of folk Hunan cuisine include fish head with chopped pepper, fried meat with pepper, grandma in Xiangxi, sour meat in Jishou, beef powder, fish powder in Chenzhou, Dong 'an chicken, goldfish beating lotus, blood duck in Yongzhou, steamed bacon and sister jiaozi. Ningxiang Tasty Snake, Yueyang Ginger Spicy Snake, etc.

Development history A large number of exquisite pottery and wine vessels unearthed from Neolithic sites in Hunan Province, as well as accompanying

These unearthed pottery, together with the remains of grains and animal bones, prove that Xiaoxiang ancestors broke away from the primitive state of eating animals and cooked food as early as 89000 years ago. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Hunan was mainly a place where Chu people and Yue people lived together, with many nationalities living together, different eating customs and prevailing sacrificial rites.

Wang Yi explained the Nine Songs in Han Dynasty and said, "In the past, between Wen Yi and Yuanxiang in southern Chu, people believed in ghosts and loved shrines, and their shrines must make songs and music to enlighten the gods ..." Every ritual activity was always accompanied by dance and music. Sacrificing to the gods, places, ancestors, happy events, funerals, welcoming guests and seeing them off all require eating. There are strict requirements for the variety of dishes, and they are also very particular about color, fragrance, taste and shape. For example, during the Warring States Period more than 300 years BC, the great poet Qu Yuan was exiled to Hunan and wrote the famous poem Chu Ci. Among them, "Evocation of Soul" and "Big Trick" reflect the rich and delicious dishes, drinks and snacks in this sacrificial activity at that time. There is a description in "Evocation": "... eating too much, Migaimai, Huangliangduo." Bitter and salty, it is difficult to make a difference. Fat cows smell better. If you are bitter, Chen Wu will have some soup. The turtle shoots mutton with some pulp. Sour fish, fry some red fish It is unpleasant to show chickens. Explained in the vernacular, it is like this: "The food you eat is rich and colorful. You can eat rice, millet, glutinous rice and Huang Liang at will. Sweet and sour, salty and bitter, harmonious and palatable. Beef tendon is soft and fragrant. Sour black fruit soup. Roasted turtle, roast mutton and sugarcane juice. Vinegar boiled swans, braised pheasants, fried fat geese and cranes, braised chicken and stewed turtle soup are delicious and full of energy-they will last for a long time. "In addition, the big move also mentioned Chu cheese-Chu cheese, dolphins-pork sauce, bitter dog meat dried dog meat, roasted crow, steamed pheasant, fried. It can be seen that there were dozens of cooking methods such as burning, roasting, stewing, frying, boiling, steaming, stewing, vinegar cooking, halogen and sauce in the diet life of Hunan ancestors at that time. The raw materials used are also natural resources with the color of Chu Xiang. In addition, according to the records in Songs of the South, the snacks at that time were also very distinctive. Qu Yuan described it this way: "... and some honey and erbium. Yaojiang honey spoon is more feathery. If you drink cold, it will be cooler. Chinese food is frozen, and there is some nectar .. "Interpreted as vernacular, it means:" There are fried honey glutinous rice Baba and steamed honey cake, and caramel. The iced glutinous rice wine is really cool and mellow, and the jade yellow wine is enough to make you intoxicated ... "All these show that as early as the Warring States period, the dietary life of Hunan ancestors was quite colorful and the cooking skills were quite mature, forming a southern flavor dominated by sour, salty, sweet and bitter. As for the daily staple food of Hunan ancestors during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, according to archaeological and historical records, there are rice, sorghum, beans, wheat, millet, millet and rice, but rice is the main one. Steamed rice retort, pot, kettle, etc. Steamed rice is not sticky or sweet. When cooking porridge, put rice and water into the porridge and cook it with fire until the rice is cooked. When the rice porridge is ready, after the dish is ready, it must be put in a container for easy eating. At that time, Hunan's utensils were not only complete in variety, but also exquisite and elegant. As far as materials are concerned, it mainly includes pottery, bronze, iron, lacquer and so on. Although these food containers have appeared since the Shang Dynasty, their shapes have their own characteristics in Hunan. In particular, thousands of lacquerware unearthed from Chu Tomb in Changsha, Hunan, have beautiful shapes, bright colors and smooth patterns.

Basic characteristics of cooking

Hunan cuisine has always attached importance to the collocation of raw materials and the mutual penetration of tastes. Hunan cuisine is particularly hot and sour. Due to the geographical location, Hunan has a mild and humid climate, so people like to eat peppers to refresh themselves and get rid of dampness. The dishes cooked with pickled vegetables as seasoning and pepper are appetizing and refreshing, which are favored by people and become a unique local eating custom. At the same time, stir-frying is also a major feature of Hunan cooking.

Cooking characteristics

It has a long history. Among the three cooking techniques: hot cooking, cold cooking and sweet blending, there are only a few of each technique, and there are dozens of others. Relatively speaking, Hunan cuisine is better at stewing meat, almost reaching the point of perfection. Stew can be divided into red stew and white stew in color change, and clear soup stew, thick soup stew and milk soup stew in seasoning. Slow stew, original flavor. Some dishes are crystal clear and mellow, some dishes are pure and nourishing, some dishes are soft and delicious, some dishes are crisp and delicious, and many stews have become famous dishes in Hunan cuisine.

Generally speaking, the dietary customs in Hunan mainly have the following backgrounds and characteristics:

(1) In Hunan, "eating" has rich social significance.

First of all, in people's weddings and funerals, eating is always an important content. Marriage is called "having a wedding banquet"; The dead, commonly known as "eating meat"; If you add the population, you will have a "full moon"; Eat poached eggs and "birthday noodles" for your birthday. Secondly, "eating" is also one of people's important social means. When friends and acquaintances meet, the first greeting is often: "Have you eaten?" When you visit a friend's house, you can eat 10 or 12 dishes, which means that you have received the warmest hospitality from your host.

(2) In Hunan, due to geography, climate and other reasons, rice is cultivated in most areas, and people take rice as the staple food in their daily diet. However, in a few mountainous areas, especially in some places in northern Hunan, corn, sweet potatoes and potatoes can only be used as staple foods for planting dry food crops. The economy of these areas has gradually developed, producing flue-cured tobacco or medicinal materials, which can be sold to the country in exchange for rice, so rice and corn are gradually used as staple foods. Sweet potato and potato are gradually separated from the staple food and become raw materials for making starchy food, brewing wine and sun-dried vegetables. Or feed for livestock. In Hunan, people eat three meals a day, whether in urban or rural areas. The difference is that in cities, breakfast is more casual, dinner is the heaviest in a day, and diet is the heaviest on weekends in a week. In rural areas, there is no obvious difference between three meals a day. Every lunar festival or solar term, the diet is generally more grand than that in the city. Within a year, the diet around the Spring Festival is the most important. In addition, no matter in urban or rural areas, almost every household should make some pickles, dried vegetables, pickles, preserved vegetables and pickles according to different seasons. Whenever guests arrive, the dining table is always served to show the housewife's skills and housekeeping ability.

(3) Men, women and children are generally fond of spicy food. Whether it's three meals on weekdays, a restaurant banquet, or a drink for three friends and four friends, one or two peppers are indispensable.

It is said that pepper originated in tropical South America and was introduced to China in the late Ming Dynasty. Hunan's geographical environment is called "lowly and wet land" in ancient times, which is rainy and humid. Pepper has the effects of keeping out cold, expelling wind and removing dampness; In addition, Hunan people take rice as their staple food all the year round, which can directly stimulate saliva secretion, stimulate appetite and increase appetite. More people eat, and the custom of eating spicy food is formed. People in Hunan eat peppers in various ways. Soak the red pepper in a sealed acid jar, which is sour and spicy, and it is called "hot and sour"; Combine red and spicy, pepper and garlic, and call it "spicy"; Chop up the big red pepper and pickle it in a sealed jar, which is salty and spicy, so it is called "salty and spicy"; Chop red pepper, mix in dried rice flour, and marinate in a sealed jar. When eating, it can be fried or mashed, which is called "spicy"; After red pepper is crushed, garlic seeds and fragrant black beans are added and soaked in tea oil, which is rich in flavor and is called "oily and spicy"; Barbecue the red pepper in the fire, then peel off the thin skin and mix with sesame oil and soy sauce. Spicy and sweet, it is called "fresh and spicy". In addition, dried and fresh peppers can also be used as cooking ingredients, and there are many ways to eat them. Especially in Miao Village, Xiangxi Dong nationality township, whenever guests come, they always entertain them with dried Chili stew. When persuading guests, they always politely invite them to eat "Chili" instead of "meat" again and again, which shows that they like spicy food very much. Hunan cuisine is deeply loved by customers in Europe, America and Southeast Asia, especially in the United States and Canada. In the United States, in front of some Hunan restaurants, there is a sign painted with big red pepper, which says Hunan pepper, and the apron of the waitress in the museum is also embroidered with big red pepper.

Steamed multi-cured ham

(4) Hunan people love bitter taste. According to documents, its origin can be traced back to the pre-Qin period. There is a poem in "Chu Ci evokes the soul" that says, "Bitter should be salty, sweet should do something". The "great bitterness" here is said to be lobster sauce. So this condiment made of beans has a history of more than 2000 years. Hunan people still have the habit of eating lobster sauce, such as Liuyang lobster sauce, which is one of the famous local specialties. Others such as bitter gourd and bitter buckwheat are also favorite foods of Hunan people. The suffering of Hunan customs has both its historical origin and its local characteristics. Hunan is located in the subtropical zone, with a long hot summer. Traditional Chinese medicine explains the meaning of summer heat: weather dominates heat, local qi dominates dampness, and damp heat steams up, which is called summer heat; When people are in the communication of qi, they will feel sick, which is summer sickness. And "bitterness can purge fire", "bitterness can dry dampness" and "bitterness can strengthen the stomach". Therefore, people eat some bitter food properly, which is helpful to clear away heat, dry dampness and stomach, and is of great benefit to health care. Looking at the topography of Hunan, most of the northern Hunan is a lake area, most of the southern Hunan is a mountainous area, and the central Hunan is a typical hilly area. This regional difference leads to the diversity of dietary customs in various parts of Hunan. We divide it into three areas: Xiangxi area, central Hunan area and southern Hunan area, and northern Hunan area.